The 1983 Australian Drivers' Championship was a
CAMS sanctioned motor racing title open to drivers of
Australian Formula 1
Australian Formula 1 (AF1) was a motor sport category for open-wheeler racing cars which was current in Australia from 1970 to 1983.
AF1 was introduced by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport in 1970, initially restricting cars to unsuperch ...
racing cars.
[Conditions for Australian Titles, 1983 CAMS Manual of Australian Motor Sport, pages 91-93] The winner of the title, which was the 27th
Australian Drivers' Championship
The Australian Drivers' Championship was a motor racing championship contested annually from 1957 to 2014 by drivers of cars complying with Australia's premier open-wheeler racing category as determined by the Confederation of Australian Motor ...
,
[1985 CAMS manual of Motor Sport, page 50] was awarded the 1983 CAMS Gold Star.
[
Italian born, Melbourne based driver ]Alfredo Costanzo
Alfredo Costanzo (born 3 January 1943, in Calabria, Italy) is a retired Italian born Australian racing driver. From 1980 to 1983 Costanzo won four Australian Drivers' Championships in a row, equalling the record set by Bib Stillwell from 1962 t ...
won his fourth straight CAMS Gold Star driving his Tiga FA81 Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
. John Smith finished second in his Ralt
Ralt was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under t ...
RT4, including being the first Australian driver home in the final round of the championship, the Australian Grand Prix
The Australian Grand Prix is an annual motor racing event which is under contract to host Formula One until 2035. One of the oldest surviving motorsport competitions held in Australia, the Grand Prix has moved frequently with 23 different venu ...
held at Melbourne's Calder Park. Port Macquarie
Port Macquarie is a coastal town in the local government area of Port Macquarie-Hastings. It is located on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. The town is located on the Tasman Sea co ...
privateer Andrew Miedecke drove his RT4 to 3rd in the championship despite only deciding to race after watching Costanzo win the first round of the series in Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
on television.
Calendar
The championship was contested over a six-round series with each round held as a single race.[Australian Motor Racing Yearbook 1983/84, page 202-217]
* Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
ian Roberto Moreno
Roberto Pupo Moreno (born 11 February 1959), usually known as Roberto Moreno and also as Pupo Moreno, is a Brazilian former auto racing, racing driver. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 15 c ...
(Ralt RT4 Ford) won the Australian Grand Prix though he was ineligible for championship points. John Smith was the highest place domestic competitor (2nd) thus earning the maximum championship points for the round.[
]
Points system
Championship points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the top six eligible finishers at each round.[ Non-resident drivers and drivers of ]Australian Formula 2
Australian Formula 2, sometimes abbreviated to AF2 or ANF2, is a "wings and slicks" formula racing category in Australia. The category is one of Australia's oldest, dating back to 1964. The current format of AF2 was introduced in 1978. Brian Shea ...
cars (who competed in some rounds by invitation) were not eligible to score points.
Results
References
Further reading
* The Official 50 - Race History of the Australian Grand Prix, 1986
External links
CAMS Online Manual of Motor Sport > About CAMS > Titles – CAMS Gold Star
{{Australian Drivers' Championship
Australian Drivers' Championship
Drivers' Championship